Claiming on your Policy
Claiming on your pet insurance policy should be very straightforward. You should be able to download a claim form from the website of the company you are with or telephone their customer services and ask them to send you one. It will not take long to get hold of one either way and then you just have to fill it in. The form should not be that complicated to fill out, it is likely that you will just need to fill in your details and information about the treatment being given. You will need the vet to fill some of it out as well. This means that it could be good to have a copy of the form to take with you when you take your sick animal to see them. If it is an emergency, you may forget, but you will be able to do it afterwards. Most policies give you six months to make a claim, from the day you go to the vets. Do not forget though, it can be annoying if you miss the deadline because you have been careless.
You may find that you have to pay an excess on your policy. Most insurance companies will ask you to do this and the amount of the excess will vary. If the treatment costs are not much higher than this, then it may be better not to make the claim. This is because a claim will cause your premiums to go up and this could end up costing you more than just paying a little bit of the treatment cost yourself. You will have to make that decision when you see your vets bill and compare it to the excess you will have to pay.
Do not be scared of making a claim though. That is what your insurance is for after all. Even if the premium does go up, it will still be easier for you to pay the monthly instalments than to somehow find the cost of the whole treatment in one go. There is no point in having insurance if you never make a claim, but just be sensible with it.
Some insurance companies will ask you to pay the vets bills and they will reimburse you minus your excess. Other companies will pay the vet directly, if the vet agrees. Therefore it could be important to find out about this before you take out the insurance policy or see the vet as it could be difficult for you to afford to pay for some treatments, even if you know that you will get the money back afterwards. It may mean that you have to choose specific vets to use, but as long as you find one that you get one with, then that does not matter.